Sedona AZ (September 1, 2016) – The following is a letter to the SedonaEye.com editor:

Video: “Smart” Meters Keep On Burning
Information & Perspective by Warren Woodward
Sedona, Arizona ~ September 1, 2016

Smart Meter caused fire

“Smart” meter issues just never go away because the meters are inherently flawed in so many un-fixable ways. One example of that is the meters still catch on fire despite there having been massive recalls across North America over the last several years. Hundreds of thousands of fire prone “smart” meters have been replaced in various locations that include Canada, California, Texas, Florida, Nevada, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Here is another news report about the fires, recent ones, and this time coming from KSHB TV in Kansas City, Missouri. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV_cHlxKoIE

Several things are noteworthy about this 4 minute news clip.

1) Finally, here is some real investigative reporting on “smart” meter fires from a mainstream source.

Smart meter fire while in service

2) Note how the utility calls the fires “malfunctions.” That is typical BS language of the sort that all the utilities use to downplay their fundamentally flawed, unsafe equipment.

3) In addition to BS language, note how the utility tried to downplay the issue by playing a numbers game. That is another typical utility company ploy. “6 problems out of 700,000+ meters.” “Problems?” Yes, I guess you could call the electric meter on your house exploding into fire a “problem,” although disaster would be more apt, and I’ll bet that any one of the 6 whose meter blew up and burned did not care one bit how many other meters there were that did not catch fire.

4) There may well be more than the 6 “problems” mentioned in the video. Utilities have been known to take the meter at a fire scene and thereby conceal evidence. Utilities also blame the homeowner’s wiring or meter clips for the fire, even though all of that was working fine until the analog meter was replaced with a “smart” meter.

5) Note that the brand catching on fire is Landis & Gyr, the same brand APS has been installing recently in their service territory. That said, all the major brands are dangerous since all have caught fire at one time or other.

Smart Meter fire after installation

Both APS and SRP have had “smart” meter related fires with their Elster brands. Acting on a tip from an APS insider, I brought the APS fires to the attention of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), the state agency that supposedly regulates APS. No one at the ACC cared. APS admitted that there had been “some” fires, and that in one instance both APS and Elster were being sued, but the ACC didn’t care enough to bother to ask for details of the lawsuit or just how many “some” was.

Meanwhile we have (appropriately named) ACC commissioner Bob Burns recently winning the GOP primary for reelection after making a great show of how concerned he is about APS’s influence at the ACC. Never mind that Burns’ campaign was the recipient of APS money during his election 4 years ago. Now he’s shocked, shocked at the prospect that APS could be buying their regulators, and Burns has re-branded himself as Mr. Transparency when it comes to campaign finance.

But where was his zeal for transparency when I broke the APS fire story? Shamefully, Burns could not have cared less about APS transparency then. He was not the least bit interested in investigating APS fires. But just recently he issued APS a subpoena to submit their financial records to him. So it’s money records Yes / fire records No. Money matters but lives don’t.

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